DAILY-E-VOTIONAL

BLESSINGS FROM THE HEART

Pastor Cecil A. Thompson

April 30, 2015

“GROW UP!”

II Peter 3:17-18

“You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.”

Have you ever noticed that when family or friends gather after being apart for some time, someone will inevitably remark about how much the youngsters have grown? “Johnny, you are getting so big!” How would we feel when someone at the same reunion tells us, “Wow! You have really put on the pounds!” Okay, I will get off this uncomfortable comparison.

The fact of the matter is that we are urged to grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord. Grace can be defined as God’s unmerited favor at Christ’s expense. God gives us His favor, yet we often ignore the manifold blessings He has given us.

Picture a person that you love very much. You prepare the most expensive gift imaginable and lovingly wrap it in the most beautiful gift wrap you can find. You can hardly wait to see the look on your loved one’s face when they open that precious package. The problem, however, is that they leave your house with the gift unopened. Days, weeks, months, even years later you visit that person and there on the table is your beautiful, expensive gift package…still unwrapped.

We are to open the package of God’s gracious gift to us. That means we spend time reading the promises of His Word and appropriating them into our life. Rather than remaining spiritual babes, we are to become strong and mighty for the Lord! It is time for us to grow up spiritually!

May God richly bless you as you bless others by your words and actions! 

- - - Pastor Cecil